kiwibird
Editor, Senior Moderator
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/news?article=32875924-7ebe-4ca3-85a8-420a2c287b30
01 May
DAILY NEWS
30 APRIL 2009
Swine flu testing now in New Zealand
Jodi Yeats
jyeats@nzdoctor.co.nz
Daily news: All influenza A cases to be treated as swine flu (Image: Swine flu virus, source: PHIL)
From now on testing for swine flu will be conducted by the ESR in New Zealand and confirmed at the Melbourne WHO laboratory.
However, this doesn?t make any difference to Auckland GPs who still send their test samples to community laboratory provider Diagnostic MedLab.
DML delivered the first few tests to Auckland Hospital laboratory LabPlus by taxi, but is now using it normal delivery services to send two batches of samples a day on to LabPlus, chief executive Arthur Morris says.
LabPlus is testing around 100 samples a day for influenza A. If a test is positive, the samples go to the ESR for DNA sequencing to determine whether it is swine flu, laboratory manager Ross Hewett says.
Regional DHB laboratories around the country are carrying out first line testing for influenza A and some are testing for H strain variants.
Where the ESR scientists confirm a test is swine flu, the samples will be sent to the Melbourne WHO lab for corroboration, because that is good practice, programme leader for the ESR at the National Centre for Biosecurity and Infectious Disease Virginia Hope says.
Swine flu notifiable now
An order in council is being passed to make swine flu a notifiable disease and ESR will now be monitoring and tracking reported cases.
The Ministry of Health?s advice is that confirmed cases of influenza A should be treated in the same way as cases of swine flu.
They should be given Tamiflu and isolated, with all contacts monitored, Dr McGrath says.
Regional assessment centre in South Auckland
There are plans for a community assessment centre in Counties Manukau near the airport, most likely in Middlemore Hospital where there?s some spare capacity and patients could be isolated away from the airport, director-general of health Stephen McKernan says.
There are further plans being developed to set up community assessment centres around the country, Mr McKernan says.
Pandemic imminent - WHO
Meantime, WHO has raised the level of alert to five out of a possible level of six, meaning a pandemic is imminent and assessment centres should be prepared, health minister Tony Ryall told a media conference this morning.
Over 100 probable cases in New Zealand
At this point there are 13 New Zealand patients being treated as having confirmed cases of swine flu and that includes the three that have test samples confirmed in Melbourne. All 13 were on Saturday?s flight from Mexico, NZ1, and 12 are students from Rangitoto College.
While the WHO laboratory in Melbourne only tested the strongest samples, it assumed because those were swine flu the other near contacts in the same group with influenza A also had the swine flu variant.
As of this morning there were 111 probable cases of swine flu in New Zealand with those people being kept in isolation, treated with Tamiflu and their families and contacts being monitored, Dr McGrath says, adding the number varies constantly
01 May
DAILY NEWS
30 APRIL 2009
Swine flu testing now in New Zealand
Jodi Yeats
jyeats@nzdoctor.co.nz
Daily news: All influenza A cases to be treated as swine flu (Image: Swine flu virus, source: PHIL)
From now on testing for swine flu will be conducted by the ESR in New Zealand and confirmed at the Melbourne WHO laboratory.
However, this doesn?t make any difference to Auckland GPs who still send their test samples to community laboratory provider Diagnostic MedLab.
DML delivered the first few tests to Auckland Hospital laboratory LabPlus by taxi, but is now using it normal delivery services to send two batches of samples a day on to LabPlus, chief executive Arthur Morris says.
LabPlus is testing around 100 samples a day for influenza A. If a test is positive, the samples go to the ESR for DNA sequencing to determine whether it is swine flu, laboratory manager Ross Hewett says.
Regional DHB laboratories around the country are carrying out first line testing for influenza A and some are testing for H strain variants.
Where the ESR scientists confirm a test is swine flu, the samples will be sent to the Melbourne WHO lab for corroboration, because that is good practice, programme leader for the ESR at the National Centre for Biosecurity and Infectious Disease Virginia Hope says.
Swine flu notifiable now
An order in council is being passed to make swine flu a notifiable disease and ESR will now be monitoring and tracking reported cases.
The Ministry of Health?s advice is that confirmed cases of influenza A should be treated in the same way as cases of swine flu.
They should be given Tamiflu and isolated, with all contacts monitored, Dr McGrath says.
Regional assessment centre in South Auckland
There are plans for a community assessment centre in Counties Manukau near the airport, most likely in Middlemore Hospital where there?s some spare capacity and patients could be isolated away from the airport, director-general of health Stephen McKernan says.
There are further plans being developed to set up community assessment centres around the country, Mr McKernan says.
Pandemic imminent - WHO
Meantime, WHO has raised the level of alert to five out of a possible level of six, meaning a pandemic is imminent and assessment centres should be prepared, health minister Tony Ryall told a media conference this morning.
Over 100 probable cases in New Zealand
At this point there are 13 New Zealand patients being treated as having confirmed cases of swine flu and that includes the three that have test samples confirmed in Melbourne. All 13 were on Saturday?s flight from Mexico, NZ1, and 12 are students from Rangitoto College.
While the WHO laboratory in Melbourne only tested the strongest samples, it assumed because those were swine flu the other near contacts in the same group with influenza A also had the swine flu variant.
As of this morning there were 111 probable cases of swine flu in New Zealand with those people being kept in isolation, treated with Tamiflu and their families and contacts being monitored, Dr McGrath says, adding the number varies constantly